Clitomachus or Cleitomachus ( grc-gre, Κλειτόμαχος, ''Kleitómakhos''; 187/6–110/9BC) was a

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

philosopher, originally from

Carthage Carthage was the capital city of Ancient Carthage, on the eastern side of the Lake of Tunis in what is now Tunisia. Carthage was one of the most important trading hubs of the Ancient Mediterranean and one of the most affluent cities of the classi ...

, who came to

Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates a ...

in 163/2BC and studied

philosophy Philosophy (from , ) is the systematized study of general and fundamental questions, such as those about existence, reason, knowledge, values, mind, and language. Such questions are often posed as problems to be studied or resolved. ...

under

Carneades Carneades (; el, Καρνεάδης, ''Karneadēs'', "of Carnea"; 214/3–129/8 BC) was a Greek philosopher and perhaps the most prominent head of the Skeptical Academy in ancient Greece. He was born in Cyrene. By the year 159 BC, he had be ...

. He became head of the

Academy An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary or tertiary higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membership). The name traces back to Plato's school of philosop ...

around 127/6BC. He was an Academic skeptic like his master. Nothing survives of his writings, which were dedicated to making known the views of Carneades, but

Cicero Marcus Tullius Cicero ( ; ; 3 January 106 BC – 7 December 43 BC) was a Roman statesman, lawyer, scholar, philosopher, and academic skeptic, who tried to uphold optimate principles during the political crises that led to the esta ...

made use of them for some of his works.

Life

Clitomachus was born in

in 187/6BC as Hasdrubal ( grc-gre, Ἀσδρούβας, ''Hasdroúbas''; xpu, 𐤏𐤆𐤓𐤁𐤏𐤋 , ''ʿAzrubaʿal'', "Help of

Baal Baal (), or Baal,; phn, , baʿl; hbo, , baʿal, ). ( ''baʿal'') was a title and honorific meaning "owner", "lord" in the Northwest Semitic languages spoken in the Levant during antiquity. From its use among people, it came to be applied t ...

"). He came to

in 163/2 BC, when he was about 24 years old. There he became connected with the founder of the New Academy, the philosopher

, under whose guidance he rose to be one of the most distinguished disciples of this school; but he also studied at the same time the philosophy of the

Stoics Stoicism is a school of Hellenistic philosophy founded by Zeno of Citium in Athens in the early 3rd century BCE. It is a philosophy of personal virtue ethics informed by its system of logic and its views on the natural world, asserting tha ...

and

Peripatetics The Peripatetic school was a school of philosophy in Ancient Greece. Its teachings derived from its founder, Aristotle (384–322 BC), and ''peripatetic'' is an adjective ascribed to his followers. The school dates from around 335 BC when Aristo ...

. In 127/6 BC, two years after the death of Carneades, he became the effective head (

scholarch A scholarch ( grc, σχολάρχης, ''scholarchēs'') was the head of a school in ancient Greece. The term is especially remembered for its use to mean the heads of schools of philosophy, such as the Platonic Academy in ancient Athens. Its fir ...

) of the

. He continued to teach at Athens till as late as 111 BC, as

Crassus Marcus Licinius Crassus (; 115 – 53 BC) was a Roman general and statesman who played a key role in the transformation of the Roman Republic into the Roman Empire. He is often called "the richest man in Rome." Wallechinsky, David & Wallace, I ...

heard him in that year. He died in 110/09 BC, and was succeeded as scholarch by

Philo of Larissa Philo of Larissa ( el, Φίλων ὁ Λαρισσαῖος ''Philon ho Larissaios''; 159/8–84/3 BC) was a Greek philosopher. He was a pupil of Clitomachus, whom he succeeded as head of the Academy. During the Mithridatic wars which would see ...

Writings

Of his works, which amounted to 400 books, only a few titles are preserved. His main object in writing them was to make known the philosophy of his master

, from whose views he never dissented. Clitomachus continued to reside at Athens till the end of his life; but he continued to cherish a strong affection for his native country, and when

was captured and destroyed in 146 BC, he wrote a work to console his unfortunate countrymen. This work, which

says he had read, was taken from a discourse of Carneades, and was intended to exhibit the consolation which philosophy supplies even under the greatest calamities. His work was highly regarded by Cicero, who based parts of his ''

De Natura Deorum ''De Natura Deorum'' (''On the Nature of the Gods'') is a philosophical dialogue by Roman Academic Skeptic philosopher Cicero written in 45 BC. It is laid out in three books that discuss the theological views of the Hellenistic philosophies o ...

'', '' De Divinatione'' and '' De Fato'' on a work of Clitomachus he names as ''On the Withholding of Assent'' ( la, De Sustinendis Adsensionibus). Clitomachus probably treated the history of philosophy in his work on the philosophical sects: ''On the Schools of Thought'' ( el, περί αἱρέσεων). Two of Clitomachus' works are known to have been dedicated to prominent Romans, the poet

Gaius Lucilius Gaius Lucilius (180, 168 or 148 BC – 103 BC) was the earliest Roman satirist, of whose writings only fragments remain. A Roman citizen of the equestrian class, he was born at Suessa Aurunca in Campania, and was a member of the Scipio ...

and the one-time consul Lucius Marcius Censorinus,Cicero, ''Academica'', ii. 32. suggesting that his work was known and appreciated in Rome.

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* * * * . * {{Authority control 180s BC births 110s BC deaths 2nd-century BC philosophers Academic philosophers Academic skepticism Ancient Skeptic philosophers Carthaginians Hellenistic-era philosophers from Africa Hellenistic-era philosophers in Athens 2nd-century BC Punic people